Hi Debbie,
When it comes to Ray Peat, you have to forget pretty much everything you have EVER read about diabetes type 2 or blood sugar control. :-) (Most of which is based on research which was paid for by drug companies.)
If you want to understand Peat's recommendations, the best place to start would be by reading his article, "Glycemia, starch, and sugar in context". It will blow your mind! (Just be prepared. The man is brilliant and seems to assume everyone else is so it takes several read throughs for most folks to grasp what he is saying.)
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/glycemia.shtml
Ray Peat has a Ph.D. in biology with a specialization in physiology. He understands how the body works and bases his recommendations on that knowledge.
This comes from his above mentioned article:
"Insulin is important in the regulation of blood sugar, but its importance has been exaggerated because of the diabetes/insulin industry. Insulin itself has been found to account for only about 8% of the "insulin-like activity" of the blood, with potassium being probably the largest factor. There probably isn't any process in the body that doesn't potentially affect blood sugar.
Glucagon, cortisol, adrenalin, growth hormone and thyroid tend to increase the blood sugar, but it is common to interpret hyperglycemia as "diabetes," without measuring any of these factors. Even when "insulin dependent diabetes" is diagnosed, it isn't customary to measure the insulin to see whether it is actually deficient, before writing a prescription for insulin. People resign themselves to a lifetime of insulin injections, without knowing why their blood sugar is high.
Insulin release is also stimulated by amino acids such as leucine, and insulin stimulates cells to absorb amino acids and to synthesize proteins. Since insulin lowers blood sugar as it disposes of amino acids, eating a large amount of protein without carbohydrate can cause a sharp decrease in blood sugar. This leads to the release of adrenalin and cortisol, which raise the blood sugar. Adrenalin causes fatty acids to be drawn into the blood from fat stores, especially if the liver's glycogen stores are depleted, and cortisol causes tissue protein to be broken down into amino acids, some of which are used in place of carbohydrate. Unsaturated fatty acids, adrenaline, and cortisol cause insulin resistance."
What Peat is saying is that after we eat a meal that stimulates a large release of insulin (protein without carbs, starchy carbs, etc.), our blood sugar drops rapidly and then adrenalin and cortisol raise the blood sugar. So the high blood sugar is caused by the release of the stress hormones. As Peat explains, "Diabetes is often the diagnosis, when excess cortisol is the problem."
I don't know about you, but when my blood sugar is low, I feel very cold. I have also had the experience of eating a high starchy carb meal, and initially feeling very cold and achy, and then a short time later, feeling very warm and inflamed, which is usually at the 90 minute point after the meal and my blood sugar will be close to 200. (This usually happens when I eat starchy grain based meals.) Given what Peat is saying, I suspect that the initial cold, achy, shivery feeling is the blood sugar falling dramatically (hypoglycemia) due to the large insulin release, and then the surge upward is caused by the adrenalin and cortisol release in response to the sudden lowering of blood sugar.
I also believe that is why so many of us Type 2 diabetics experience high fasting blood sugars in the morning, due to the release of the stress hormones to compensate for our falling blood sugar in the night.
Peat's dietary recommendations are designed to cause as little stress as possible to the body and to support the thyroid as much as possible. Admittedly, it is a leap of faith to try his recommendations, but I have been astounded at how my blood sugar has responded. If someone had told me I could drink orange juice and eat ice cream and not have high blood sugar, I would NEVER have believed them. But seeing is believing! The foods he recommends are very rich in potassium, and calcium, and this helps regulate the blood sugar. The only starch he recommends eating is potatoes, because of the quality protein content and the potassium. He says well cooked root veggies are also okay. And the gelatin and other recommendations are supportive of the thyroid.
His foods are quite calorie dense, so it is not a quick fix for weight loss. But I believe by supporting the thyroid and adrenal glands by following his recommendations, as the body heals, the metabolism will increase and some weight can be lost. However, it may be that thyroid supplements would be necessary in order to restore the thyroid fully. You can monitor that by monitoring your pulse and body temperature.
Restrictive diets will only further stress the adrenal glands and thyroid, making weight loss even MORE difficult. So if I have to deal with an underactive thryoid and excess cortisol levels and a sluggish metabolism and have difficulty losing weight, I would rather be eating foods that are helping my body to heal, and that taste really good, too! Both plans can provide good blood sugar control, but Haagen Dazs beats broccoli any day! :-)
Hope this helps!
Cathy